The RailStaff Awards 2024

Nominations for Project Manager Of The Year

Ian McConnell

Said the following about Kirsty Devlin:

“Kirsty is Project Manager for the launch of the 365 trains. She is responsible for bringing in ten new trains in record time. She has a fantastic can-do attitude that rubs off on all who work with her. Her organisation skills are a credit to the company. In the previous year, our rolling stock had to meet the demand of our May timetable changes. We had to replace some of our older trains and ensure our capacity remained the same for our customers.

Between September 2017 and November 2018, ScotRail had planned for the delivery of 70 Hitachi Class 385 trains to deliver more seats, faster journeys, and better services for customers. Our supplier encountered several manufacturing issues and missed the delivery dates. Contingency planning assessed rolling stock options and identified 10 Class 365 units recently removed from service by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). A project team led by Kirsty was mobilised in February 2018 to bring the fleet of Class 365s into service by July 2018.

Kirsty’s role was to co-ordinate delivery of the trains between our internal departments, suppliers, and partners. This meant pulling a team together to achieve delivery of the 365 trains in record time. Kirsty has consistently met established project deadlines, going above and beyond to meet those milestones.

To meet the tight deadlines, separate project delivery and commercial teams were established to ensure the service introduction progressed at the required pace. This allowed the delivery team to focus on planning gauge clearance, approvals, modifications, and training without distraction.

At time when the rail industry is much criticised for letting passengers down, it is a remarkable achievement that this project went from conception to full delivery in under 3 months. Kirsty deserves a massive amount of credit for leading this.

The teams, led by Kirsty, negotiated the following:

• Sub lease with GTR to enable 4 units to be released for modification, testing and training. This was executed on 27 April.

• Franchise variation with Transport Scotland to recognise the class 365s as being equivalent to class 385s for the purposes of delivering franchise commitments. This allowed the units to be introduced into service at no additional subsidy. This was executed on 1 May.

• Head lease with Eversholt Rail Group (ERG) – this was executed on 5 June.

• 50 drivers, 30 depot operators, and 120 conductors to be trained on the fleet, in addition to familiarisation courses for dispatch, cleaning, and hospitality staff. A maintenance team was contracted for the fleet and were trained on fault-finding and exams, with 10 staff receiving more in-depth training - both formal and on the job with GTR. In addition, 30 depot staff trained, and 43 out-based staff got line of route / recovery training.

Although Kirsty is responsible for the overall delivery of the project it couldn’t have happened without the backing of the whole team that she pulled together. Kirsty lives and breathes the organisation’s vision, values and behaviours. Kirsty has set the vision, motivated, coached and inspired the team. Her leadership style is not only creating a feel-good vibe in the team but empowering the team to take ownership and responsibility.

She seeks to deliver excellence, seeing project activities through from end to end whilst helping and supporting others in the team. She sees how effective teamwork drives delivery and is always enthusiastic and encouraging with all team members. Because of the tight deadlines, regular meetings and teleconferences were important in bringing a diverse team together.

Kirsty takes great pride in ensuring her co-workers are given appropriate guidance and support when needed but shows great leadership qualities by trusting her team and stepping back when it is right to do so. Kirsty’s positive attitude has a direct impact on her team, enabling the team to deliver project milestones at the right time, cost, and quality.

Dave Smith, Head of Service Planning at ScotRail, praised Kirsty’s project management skills by saying “Kirsty has been able to troubleshoot issues across multiple work sites and stakeholders, where each had their own unique issues and problems. Her work on the introduction of the Class 365 ‘happy’ trains provided a positive result in a short period of time for the business and ensured we provided improved capacity and enhanced passenger experience for our customers.”

Kirsty has responded to the many challenges set by ScotRail in her Project Management role. A skill essential to good project management is the ability to communicate well. It’s the centre of building great relationships during any project. Effective communication in a project takes dedication, time and effort. As the project developed, communication was essential and became an enabler to focus the team on staying on course. Keeping the team informed and happy was critical to Kirsty’s success.

Kirsty worked cross-functionally with various services across ScotRail and multiple organisations to complete engineering changes, design and modifications to introduce the fleet on time. This included working together with the previous Train Operating Company leasing the class 365s, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), to make sure we were ready for the introduction of the new fleet.

The benefits arising from working together provided efficiencies that ultimately helped meet our delivery timeframes. Working in partnership with GTR we shared information, documentation and our people to familiarise our teams with the Class 365s. A colleague from GTR, Hornsey was drafted in to help in Scotland with fleet introduction and early maintenance issues. This assistance from GTR was invaluable using firsthand experience of staff to enable us to gain a good understanding of day to day running before starting operations.

Ian McConnell, Programmes & Transformation Director said of Kirsty:

“Kirsty always gets things done. Her straight forward, no nonsense approach is a breath of fresh air and her enthusiasm and drive is infectious. The 365 introduction was an amazing achievement delivered in record time. Kirsty’s impact as the project manager was amazing and she deserves a massive amount of credit”

Kirsty empowered the team to get the job done. She motivates people and has a tangible record to show success. It is critical to rally a team, especially with such tight deadlines to meet. Kirsty encouraged team members, no matter their grade, to take personal responsibility, ensuring every contribution, no matter how small adds value to the overall project. Kirsty’s energy is contagious, and she is an asset to the company. She’s introduced our new trains into service three weeks ahead of plan and this will be the first-time the introduction of new trains was implemented within a 3-month period. That’s quite an achievement.“